It's Tinder for travellers! New 'less sexual' holiday app promises to connect tourists and locals so they can explore cities together

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A new Tinder style app allows travellers to connect all over the globe, without having ever met in person.

Tripr allows tourists and backpackers to maximise the social side of their trips, by introducing them to people who will be in the same place, at the same time -  before they even get there.

'With Tripr, planning a trip becomes more about 'who' than it is about 'where' and 'when', CEO and Founder of Tripr, Nicolas Green, told MailOnline Travel. 

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'Planning a trip becomes more about 'who' than it is about 'where' and 'when', says Triper CEO, Nicolas Green

'You can also see where your friends are going. No more fomo and much more social travelling. You'll never hear about a friend that was in the same city of you and you had no idea, ever again.'

First, users create a profile, entering in information about their itinerary, the name of the city they'll be visiting or an attraction or event they're heading for.

Then they enter their preferences about who they'd like to meet up with, and can start anonymously swiping through potential travel buddies. 

If two users 'like' each other - a connection is made, via Facebook.

'We chose to use Facebook for a few reasons,' Green said.

'First, it makes the initial sign-up significantly quicker; it also provides a degree of authentication that we would not be able to offer at this stage; and we are able to show how people are connected via different degrees of separation.'

Users can anonymously swipe through potential travel buddies and make connection

'We are aiming to fundamentally change the way that people travel,' says Green.

'At the moment, who a traveller can meet is limited to where they stay, what they do and chance. This drastically reduces the number of people that a traveller can meet.'

The app has drawn comparisons to dating app Tinder, but Green says there's a lot more on offer with Tripr.

'We have seen a lot of people that are using Tinder to meet new people on their travels but have been put off by the more 'sexual' nature of app. 

Travellers can match with locals, which is great for local advice like places to stay or things to do on your trip

'The other problem that they experience is that they often get 'matched' after they have already left. With Tripr you can connect well in advance. No more missed connections. 

'The other bonus of Tripr is that you can match with locals, which is great for local advice like places to stay or things to do on your trip. People may well use Tripr for travel dating but we want it to be so much more. We want people to connect with like minded travellers regardless of sex.' 

And what of the potential dangers of meeting up with strangers? 'The advantage with Tripr is that for 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree connections, the user can see how they are connected,' says Green.

'This offers a degree of safety because the user can then ask the mutual friend for a reference on any new potential travel friend. The anonymous nature of the swiping also means that if you 'X' a user, they will not be able to contact you. You can only contact another tripr user if you both approve each other.'

Users enter information such as they will be travelling and preferences about who they'd like to meet

'The argument for its safety can be put like this; you could meet a stranger at a bar on your travels (degree of risk) or you could connect with them (potentially months in advance) on Tripr and get to know them, get a reference from a mutual friend and make sure they are who they say they are, long before you actually meet them in person.

'Lastly, all our users login via Facebook ands this provides an extra degree of user verification.'

The app was initially aimed at students, but Green hopes it will appeal to 'a new generation of backpacker' and eventually to all travelers.

Tripr is available for iOS devices through Apple's app store.